tihvavy  of  Che  theological  ^tminaxy 

PRINCETON  •  NEW  JERSEY 


PRESENTED  BY 

Mr.  Kenneth  McKenzle 

BX  7233  .M25  N68  1900     ~^ 
McKenzie,  Alexander  1830- 

1914. 
Now 


NOW 


E\}t  ©ag*5  aEorft  Ser 


NOW 


ALEXANDER    McKENZIE,   D.  D. 


BOSTON 
L.   C.  PAGE  k  COMPANY 

A/ncccc 


Copyright^  igoo 
By  L.  C.  Page  &  Company 

(incorporated) 
All  rights  rese^-ved 


Colonial  Press 

Electrotyped  and  Printed  by  C.  H.  Simonds  &  Co. 

Boston.  U.  S.  A. 


NOW. 


2  Corinthians  vi.  2. 

This  is  again  the  new  year.  The  good  wishes  of 
our  friends  are  constantly  reminding  us  that  we  have 
passed  from  the  old  into  the  new.  We  enter  with 
hope  and  purpose  upon  the  waiting  months.  All 
which  they  contain  we  cannot  tell.  Exploration  and 
discovery  will  attend  our  steps  ;  but  we  shall  live, 
and  in  that  is  the  fact  which  encircles  all  that  we  shall 
do.  Life  in  this  world,  or  some  neighbouring  world, 
is  prepared  for  us.  Our  duty  we  know  in  advance, 
and  conscience  is  already  enthroned.  We  shall  go 
nowhere  from  the  presence  of  God,  and  in  his  pres- 
ence is  fullness  of  joy.  We  may  avoid  the  pleasure 
if  we  wish  ;  but  it  fills  the  air  in  which  we  have  our 
being.  The  events  which  shall  enter  the  annals  we 
have  already  begun  to  write  we  can  only  describe  as  we 
reach  them,  while  there  may  be  some  confident  fore- 
casting.    Duty  will  come  and  strength  to  match  it. 

5 


6  NOW. 

We  may  look  for  weariness,  but  for  rest  also.  If  we 
fall  upon  disappointment  and  sorrow,  it  will  be  where 
the  Comforter  offers  his  solace.  The  year  is  already 
endowed  with  opportunity.  To  keep  our  heart  and 
to  be  friendly  is  within  our  reach.  To  fear  God  and 
keep  his  commandments,  to  hold  the  faith  and  bear 
witness  to  it,  to  serve  the  town,  to  help  the  coun- 
try, to  assist  the  world,  this  we  can  do.  Such  things 
are  not  subject  to  vicissitudes.  Life  has  less  uncer- 
tainty than  some  imagine.  The  great  interests  can 
be  depended  on.  There  will  be  surprises  in  order 
that  time  may  maintain  its  freshness  and  variety,  but 
we  can  form  our  plans  with  assurance,  and  move  into 
them  with  a  steady  tread. 

The  uncertainties  lie  among  the  less  important 
things,  or  relate  chiefly  to  matters  of  detail.  We 
cannot  tell  what  kind  of  weather  we  shall  have  a 
week  hence.  But  we  can  rely  upon  having  some 
kind  of  weather,  and  can  make  our  plans  in  this  con- 
fidence. We  do  not  know  what  particular  things  may 
assert  their  claim  upon  our  time  and  strength.  But 
we  know  as  well  now  as  we  shall  in  the  future  that 
it  will  be  our  duty  to  be  honest  and  honourable,  gen- 
erous and  helpful.  No  change  will  pass  upon  the 
two  commandments  which  include  our  life.  We  can 
say,  with  Robertson  when  the  darkness  gathered 
about  him,  and  his  heart  was  heavy,  and  his  faith 
trembled,  that   there  is  one  thing   to  be  depended 


NOW.  7 

upon, —  "  it  must  be  right  to  do  right."  '*  Be  true," 
he  said,  "be  true."  Nothing  can  affect  this  duty, 
and  upon  it  we  may  construct  our  plans  with  intelH- 
gence.  We  do  not  know  where  we  shall  be  a  year 
hence,  or  a  day  hence.  But  we  do  know  that  we  shall 
be  for  a  hundred  to-morrows,  and  that  wherever  we 
are  we  shall  be  with  the  divine  love, '  with  the  same 
principles  for  the  fashioning  of  our  life  as  we  have  in 
this  world.  The  place  may  change  at  any  moment. 
It  is  certain  to  change  before  many  days.  But  the 
change  does  not  involve  a  reconstruction  of  our  motive 
and  a  new  arrangement  of  our  affections.  I  do  not 
know  that  any  event  is  so  greatly  overrated  as  the 
passing  from  one  world  to  another.  Life  is  not  sub- 
ject to  its  control. 

We  must  allow  room  in  our  expectations  for  the 
unexpected,  though  our  thoughts  have  the  element  of 
prophecy.  Nor  should  we  desire  more  liberty  in  our 
anticipation,  for  we  do  not  know  what  we  shall  want 
after  twenty  years  have  passed  by.  It  would  be  foolish 
to  attempt  to  lay  a  heavy  mortgage  on  the  coming  time, 
and  to  insist  that  then  everything  should  be  as  we 
now  think  we  should  like  to  have  it.  Our  desires  may 
well  change  with  our  growth.  We  are  to  live  with 
others,  and  what  they  may  choose  to  do  will  have  its 
effect  upon  our  own  desires.  We  cannot  tell  what 
we  shall  want  until  the  day  when  we  want  it.  Nor 
is  it  for  us  alone  to  determine  the  events  and  condi- 


8  NOW. 

tions  of  our  future.     A  higher  wisdom  is  over  our 
life.       An  all-embracing  mind  holds  all   men   in   its 
interest,  and  makes  all  things  work  together  toward 
a  common  end.     It  is  enough  for  us  to  know  that 
which  is  vital  and  essential,  and  for  the  rest  to  Uve 
by  the  day  whose  evil  and  whose  good  are  sufficient 
unto  it.     Even  the  divine  promises,  certain  as  they 
are,  leave  much  to  be  found  out  only  in  their  fulfil- 
ment.    In  the  classic  chapter  on  faith  the  unknown 
writer  does  not  hesitate  to  say  that  the  heroic  men 
whom  he  presents  "  died  in  faith,  not  having  received 
the   promises,  but    having    seen    them  and   greeted 
them  from  afar."     What  does  this   mean,   but  that 
even  the   promises    which   are    given  for  our  guid- 
ance and  encouragement,  and  which  are  to  be  utterly 
trusted  and  held  precious,  are  not  in  all  cases  to  be 
limited  to  the  letter,  or  confined  to  our  ability  to  un- 
derstand them  and  appreciate  their  meaning  }     In  the 
obedient  mind  they  are  enlarged,  and  with  this  is  a 
grateful  contentment.      I  am  not  willing  to  say,  with 
Robertson,  that  "  God's  promises  never  are  fulfilled  in 
the  sense  in  which  they  seem  to  have  been  given." 
But  this  at  least  is  clear,  that  they  are  fulfilled  beyond 
the  sense  in  which  they  seem  to  have  been  given. 
We  must  allow  our  Father  in  heaven  to  do  for  us 
larger  and  better   things    than    with    our    imperfect 
vision  we  could  foresee.     The  surprise  will  always 
come  upon  that  side. 


NOW.  9 

«*  Yet  ships  there  are  that  never  reach  their  haven. 
On,  on,  my  soul !    Thou  shalt  not  miss  thy  haven." 

We  may,  therefore,  advance  with  assurance  into 
the  coming  hours,  the  coming  centuries.  Life  is 
ordered  for  us  as  intelligent  persons,  who  can  under- 
stand themselves  and  know  the  present  day,  and 
anticipate  the  future.  There  is  no  need  of  drifting, 
or  of  moving  timidly.  Life  is  a  business  with  well- 
ordered  methods,  and  not  a  lottery  where  the  turn  of 
the  wheel  determines  our  fortune.  Chance  is  not 
sovereign  in  the  world,  nor  fate;  but  Providence, 
that  is,  God,  —  the  Father  of  all  men.  Farming  is  a 
trustworthy  employment  because  whatsoever  a  man 
sows  that  he  shall  reap.  This  is  the  law  of  life.  We 
choose  the  harvest  when  we  choose  the  seed. 

One  thing  alarms  us  as  we  cross  the  boundary 
lines  which  separate  our  years,  and  that  is  the  swift- 
ness with  which  we  are  brought  to  them.  Yet  they 
are  of  our  own  making.  There  are  no  lines,  more  than 
there  are  meridians  upon  the  globe  or  fences  among 
the  stars.  There  is  no  jarring  of  the  ship  even  when 
it  crosses  the  equator.  Time  is  simply  the  element 
in  which  we  move,  and  moment  flows  into  moment 
as  wave  slips  into  wave.  We  need  not  be  aware  of 
the  transition.  Each  period  of  life  has  its  own  char- 
acter and  offers  its  own  opportunity.  We  move 
steadily  away  from  the  day  of  our  birth,  but  we  do 


lO  NOW. 

not  move  toward  the  end  of  our  days.  Time  glides 
into  the  estate  which  we  carelessly  call  eternity, 
though  this  is  as  really  eternity  as  any  day  we  shall 
have.  There  is  no  pause  or  break  in  the  course  of 
our  years.  There  is  time  enough  in  this  world  for 
the  work  we  have  to  do  here,  and  we  should  not 
lessen  the  force  of  our  life  by  any  thought  of  its 
brevity.  The  interesting,  pathetic  comparison  of  one 
of  our  writers,  that  at  fifty  a  man  is  on  deck,  at  sixty 
in  the  cabin,  at  seventy  on  a  raft,  and  at  eighty  on  a 
spar,  however  much  of  truth  there  may  be  in  it  as 
regards  some  men,  is  not  to  be  taken  as  the  rule  in 
life.  The  deck  is  pleasanter  than  the  cabin,  and  if 
the  man  cannot  go  to  the  masthead  as  he  once  did, 
he  can  give  his  orders  to  men  of  more  nimble  feet, 
and  not  consent  to  take  refuge  on  a  spar.  From  the 
stir  of  younger  days  a  man  may  gain  the  right  to 
withdraw ;  but  then  life  should  be  richer  and  wiser, 
and  of  persistent  usefulness.  The  time  *'  to  take  in 
sail "  does  not  come  to  us.  Rather,  if  we  have  fewer 
days  in  which  to  reach  our  port,  must  we  give  all  our 
sails  to  the  favouring  wind.  It  is  meant  that  the  old 
and  the  young,  youth  and  age,  should  live  together  for 
the  common  advantage.  The  visions  of  the  young 
become  dreams,  but  the  dreams  are  of  a  real  world 
and  a  true  life  within  it.  I  counsel  a  readjustment  of 
our  idea  of  life  and  time,  for  our  comfort  and  strength 
and  achievement. 


NOW.  II 

Still,  it  is  to  be  confessed  that  there  is  meaning  in 
our  thought  of  the  celerity  of  our  days.  It  is  more 
than  complaint  when  we  feel  that  the  years  are  very 
brief,  and  rapid  in  their  passing.  We  are  reminded 
of  this  by  our  recurring  anniversaries,  which  almost 
jostle  one  another  when  our  years  have  multiplied. 

The  air  has  hardly  become  still  from  the  good 
wishes  of  our  friends  before  they  are  again  begin- 
ning to  gladden  us  with  their  kind  desires.  The  old 
patriarch,  who  lived  we  do  not  know  when,  said  that 
his  days  passed  like  the  ships.  But  if  they  did  the 
ships  were  very  slow,  for  Job  lived  a  hundred  and 
forty  years  after  his  recovery.  He  could  hardly 
complain  that  the  allotment  of  time  was  not  suffi- 
cient for  the  work  which  he  had  to  do.  Our  days 
pass  like  the  swift  ships.  We  do  not  usually  blame 
the  ships  for  being  fast,  and  if  we  are  on  board  we 
can  go  as  fast  as  they.  We  cannot  check  the  world 
as  it  wheels  around  the  sun,  nor  would  it  avail  any- 
thing to  alter  the  calendar,  and  double  the  months, 
or  arrange  the  days  upon  a  different  scale.  We 
seem  helpless  as  we  are  hurried  on  and  on.  It  is  a 
help  to  know  that  we  are  never  driven  out  of  life, 
and  that  there  is  a  far  more  exceeding  and  eternal 
weight  of  glory  prepared  for  all  who  consent  to  be 
worthy  of  it.  There  is  a  magnificent  consolation  in 
immortality.  But  however  attractive  the  next  world 
may  be,  we  do  not  wish  to  be  hastened  into  it.     We 


12  NOW. 

prefer  to  remain  where  we  are.  We  want  to  make 
more  of  this  world,  which  has  pleasures  we  have  not 
enjoyed,  wisdom  we  have  not  acquired,  discipline  we 
have  not  received,  and  calls  to  service  which  we  have 
not  answered.  It  is  a  good  world,  and  we  like  to 
live  in  it,  and  we  feel  very  naturally  that  we  have 
hardly  begun  to  live.  For  its  own  purposes,  it  was 
made  to  be  as  good  a  world  as  we  shall  find  when  we 
leave  it. 

The  question  presses  upon  our  thoughtful  mo- 
ments, whether  it  is  not  possible  to  get  more  out  of 
these  flying  years,  and  to  do  more  with  them.  If  we 
cannot  make  the  sun  stand  still  or  send  back  the 
shadow  on  the  dial,  can  we  not  in  some  other  way 
make  the  days  of  more  account,  and  acquire  a  larger 
portion  of  the  things  which  will  be  of  value  to  us  .-* 
I  have  no  doubt  that  we  can ;  that  if  we  cannot 
make  more  hours,  we  can  find  more  advantage  in 
the  hours  we  have,  and  by  using  them  more  pru- 
dently virtually  extend  them.  The  object  of  making 
the  sun  stand  still  was  to  make  the  day  longer,  in 
order  that  more  work  might  be  done,  before  the 
darkness  closed  in.  If,  then,  we  get  more  work  into 
the  hours  we  cannot  change,  we  have  attained  to  the 
same  end  as  if  we  could  reach  our  hand  among  the 
stars  and  hold  the  sun  in  its  course.  It  is  as  a  sug- 
gestion for  this  purpose  that  the  word  Now  is  com- 
mended.    N'oiv  is   the   talisman  we   need   to   make 


j\roiv.  13 

time  of  larger  worth.  Now  is  the  secret  of  a  fuller 
life.  Now  is  the  benediction  which  will  quiet  and 
gladden  our  spirit.  The  principle  of  action  which  is 
proposed  is  this  :  We  can  save  time  by  doing  things 
Now.  That  seems  a  self-evident  proposition.  It 
may  be  so,  but  it  is  by  no  means  a  common  principle 
of  action.  I  do  not  wish  to  lay  down  any  extreme 
rule,  or  to  give  an  indiscriminate  encouragement  to 
haste,  imprudence,  thoughtlessness ;  but  only  to  leave 
it  as  a  rule  to  be  applied  so  far  as  it  can  be,  in  the 
assurance  that  it  will  enlarge  the  value  of  our 
life. 

It  is  true  that  there  are  some  things  which  cannot 
be  done  now.  We  have  not  the  material  for  them. 
We  have  not  sufficient  skill.  We  are  not  certain  that 
they  ought  to  be  done.  For  these  there  must  be 
some  period  of  waiting.  But  commonly  even  these 
things  can  be  begun  now,  and  when  we  have  them  in 
mind  it  is  often  the  time  to  carry  them  through  their 
first  stage.  In  this  way  we  use  our  desire  and  inten- 
tion before  we  have  lost  our  hold  upon  them.  One 
of  the  wise  New  England  teachers  of  the  old  days, 
who  was  obliged  to  practise  economy  in  everything, 
with  a  scant  salary  and  a  large  work,  gave  to  the 
young  men  under  him  this  maxim  :  "  Seize  the  mo- 
ment of  excited  curiosity."  What  he  meant  is  clear. 
You  wish  to  know  the  meaning  of  a  word.  While 
the  wish  is  upon  you,  consult  the  lexicon ;  otherwise 


14  NOW. 

the  wish  may  pass  away,  and  you  may  die  without 
ever  knowing  what  the  word  means.  If  you  are  in 
need  of  a  date,  a  fact  in  history,  a  truth  in  science, 
secure  it  at  once,  or  the  want  may  pass,  and  the  re- 
ward which  could  easily  have  been  gained  when  the 
mind  was  upon  it  will  never  be  secured.  We  need 
to  use  the  impetus  we  have.  Our  interest  and  desire 
and  intention  are  a  force  which  must  not  be  allowed 
to  spend  itself  upon  the  air.  If  I  may  take  another 
very  prosaic  illustration,  when  you  have  kindled  the 
fire  and  generated  the  steam,  use  it.  If  you  do  not 
use  it  then,  you  have  lost  it,  and  the  whole  process 
and  the  whole  expense  must  be  repeated.  Do  not 
suffer  the  steam  to  vanish  till  it  has  done  enough  to 
pay  for  the  fuel.  For  very  many  things  we  are  able 
to  draw  on  our  experience  and  our  study.  We  have 
stored  up  wisdom.  There  is  no  need  of  our  acquiring 
this  again,  or  of  waiting  for  it.  We  have  it,  and 
without  any  delay  we  can  put  it  to  use.  We  are 
suddenly  called  upon  to  do  some  simple  problem  in 
arithmetic,  and  we  do  it  instantly.  We  do  not  feel 
that  it  is  necessary  for  us  to  learn  the  multiplication 
table,  although  the  problem  depends  upon  that.  We 
have  already  acquired  the  truths  which  it  teaches,  and 
can  put  them  to  instant  use.  So  we  have  learned 
very  many  things  which  it  were  foolish  for  us  to  at- 
tempt to  learn  over  again.  They  do  not  even  need 
consideration ;   we  have  considered   them ;  we  have 


NOW.  15 

them.    They  can  be  used  as  well  at  a  moment's  notice 
as  after  a  day's  deliberation. 

Besides  this,  we  are  able  to  form  rapid  judgments. 
If  we  have  a  well-working  mind,  and  it  is  in  good 
order,  very  often  it  can  as  well  decide  a  point  on  the 
instant  as  to  take  longer  time.  If  it  is  trained  to 
speed,  it  ought  to  work  speedily.  Our  intuitions,  our 
principles,  our  judgments,  should  be  ready  for  the 
instant  summons,  and  should  serve  us  without  delay. 
A  man's  mind  is  very  sluggish  if  it  cannot  decide 
the  ordinary  questions  of  life  at  the  time  when  they 
arise.  That  is  one  result  which  comes  through  men- 
tal discipline  and  moral  training.  It  is  not  that  we 
can  work  out  prudent  results,  but  that  we  can  pro- 
duce them  quickly,  and  yet  have  them  as  trustworthy 
as  if  with  dull,  undisciplined  faculties  we  had  worried 
over  them  for  days.  We  do  not  make  enough  of 
what  we  have  already  learned.  We  are  like  men  who 
have  earned  money,  placed  it  in  the  bank,  and  who 
then  go  about  penniless,  trying  to  earn  money  to  put 
in  the  bank !  Life  is  expensive.  What  we  know  is 
costly.  We  ought  to  trust  the  wisdom  for  which  we 
have  paid  dearly.  There  should  be  a  confidence  in 
our  opinions  and  decisions  which  will  foster  economy. 
We  ought  to  be  able  to  regard  our  decisions  very 
much  as  the  courts  do.  They  do  not  need  to  rehear 
every  case,  but  can  fall  back  on  their  authorities. 
We  should  be  able   to  rest    on    opinions  which  we 


l6  NOW. 

formed  a  year  ago,  on  principles  of  life  which  we 
discovered  to  be  wise.  In  this  way  we  have  the 
advantage  of  the  things  that  we  have  done. 

All  of  us  have  rules  of  living  which  we  have  proved. 
They  work  well  and  we  are  happy  in  their  use.  It 
is  to  be  presumed  that  we  approve  our  methods  of 
life,  otherwise  we  should  change  them  ;  that  we  think 
of  them  with  pleasure ;  that  we  regard  with  a  mild 
admiration  our  sagacity  in  framing  such  ways  of  liv- 
ing. With  great  composure  we  regard  our  principles 
and  reflect  upon  the  use  we  have  made  of  them. 
We  do  not  boast  of  them  frequently,  though  on 
occasion  we  are  ready  to  do  this.  We  may  not  teach 
our  ideas  to  young  men ;  but  we  are  gratified  when 
some  one  else  presents  them,  or  adopts  them,  as  a 
wise  system  of  living.  What  we  say  in  effect  is  this, 
—  not  in  words,  but  in  the  very  fact  that  it  is  true : 
"  These  are  the  ways  in  which  a  man  of  my  intelli- 
gence and  condition  ought  to  live.  The  best  working 
of  my  mind  and  of  my  heart  convinces  me  that  in 
general  I  am  doing  as  a  man  in  my  circumstances 
ought  to  do.  If  I  did  not  think  so,  I  should  certainly 
amend  my  ways."  I  have  drawn  this  out  until  it 
would  appear  that  very  few  men  would  actually  make 
these  words  their  own.  Yet  what  are  they,  after  all, 
but  self-approval .?  The  testimony  of  a  man's  con- 
sciousness to  his  own  discretion,  and  to  the  confi- 
dence that  he  is  living  as  a  man  in  his  position  ought 


NOW.  ly 

to  live,  every  good  man  is  entitled  to  have.  But  now, 
to  a  man  thus  admirably  furnished,  there  comes  a 
demand  for  service,  for  assistance.  If  he  does  not 
know  the  merits  of  the  request  which  is  made,  let 
him  wait.  He  is  entitled  to  the  information  which 
nothing  has  given  him.  The  matter  Hes  so  far  aside 
from  his  business  that  he  must  needs  go  beyond  his 
path  and  examine  it,  as  something  new.  But  suppose 
he  does  know  the  merits  of  the  request.  Why 
should  he  not  instantly  give  his  answer  ?  Yet  how 
often  will  he  consider  it  for  an  hour,  then  dismiss 
the  applicant  and  postpone  the  decision.  On  another 
day,  he  may  take  another  hour  of  his  time  and  his 
friend's,  and  possibly  another,  later  on,  using  up 
hours  of  time  on  a  matter  which  did  not  require 
minutes ;  and  he  will  do  this,  when  he  knows  at 
first,  instantly,  what  he  ought  to  do.  He  simply 
squanders  his  own  time  and  the  time  of  the  other  by 
refusing  to  act  now.  Time  is  thus  wasted  when  it 
can  never  be  regained,  and  is  bearing  us  rapidly 
beyond  the  world,  while  we  are  not  able  with  all  our 
diligence  to  get  half  the  good  that  waits  to  be 
secured.  I  know  very  well  what  is  said,  that  we  must 
not  be  hasty.  But  why  not  hasty }  It  is  no  disadvan- 
tage in  an  action  that  it  is  quick.  We  should  not  be 
reckless  ;  but  to  do  a  thing  promptly  is  not  reckless- 
ness ;  to  use  the  fire  the  first  time  it  is  kindled  is  not 
carelessness.     There  are  times  when  we  must  grant 


i8  jvofv. 

ourselves  delay.  They  are  not  very  common.  I 
doubt  if  we  gain  anything  by  this  daily  waste  of 
time.  As  I  look  upon  the  lives  of  men,  it  seems  to 
me  that  more  men  fail  to  make  a  success  of  living 
through  delay  than  through  haste,  and  that  what 
is  called  prudence  results  in  more  disappointments 
than  what  is  called  daring.  We  are  not  children. 
We  have  treasures  of  experience  and  training  within 
us.  It  is  not  irrational  to  make  use  of  these  now. 
There  is  always  some  hazard  in  life,  and  there  must 
be  if  life  is  to  have  any  accomplishment.  Fear  is  a 
less  faithful  servitor  than  courage.  "Thou  hast 
ventured  deeply,  but  all  must  do  so  who  would  deeply 
win." 

There  is  a  question  of  sincerity  here.  We  must 
be  honest  with  ourselves  and  with  others.  Are  we 
honest  when  we  profess  to  put  off  the  decision 
and  have  already  made  it,  giving  encouragement  of 
help  which  we  have  decided  not  to  render.?  To 
trifle  with  ourselves  and  with  our  neighbours  is  a 
serious  offence,  a  serious  wrong  to  our  own  life. 
Hesitation  seems  to  disclose  some  infirmity  of  judg- 
ment or  feebleness  of  will.  One  of  the  ablest  men  I 
have  known,  and  one  of  the  kindest,  who  could  not 
bear  to  say  a  displeasing  word,  once  told  me  this  : 
**  When  I  tell  a  man  '  I  will  think  of  it,'  I  mean  that 
I  will  not  do  it."  Is  it  not  so  with  all  of  us  at  times, 
and  is  it  well  for  us .?     Is  it  generous  ?     Would  there 


JVOTV.  19 

not  come  to  our  minds,  and  to  our  business,  a  tonic 
which  would  do  us  good  and  give  vigour  to  all  our 
work  if  we  would  take  into  our  plans  this  word  now, 
and  live  by  it.  It  is  not  easy  to  give  a  precise  rule. 
But  it  is  clear  that  the  more  rapidly  we  can  form  our 
purposes,  and  the  less  time  we  give  to  going  over 
ground  we  have  crossed  before,  the  better  off  we  are. 

"  So  many  worlds,  so  much  to  do ; 
So  little  done,  such  things  to  be." 

But  leaving  these  matters  wherein  the  principle 
seems  to  find  good  application,  let  us  advance  into 
the  domain  of  thought.  There  are  some  things 
which  are  very  well  settled  in  our  minds.  We  were 
taught  them  in  our  childhood.  They  have  grown 
with  our  growth.  Many  influences  have  contributed 
to  their  formation,  till  we  have  quite  a  substantial 
body  of  truth,  of  ethical  and  religious  truth  of  whose 
worth  we  are  confident.  We  regard  these  truths  as 
fixed.  It  is  said  of  a  noted  English  teacher  that  he 
rose  every  morning  with  the  feeling  that  everything 
was  an  open  question.  There  is  no  need  of  that. 
Some  things  are  quite  well  determined,  and  yet  we 
do  not  get  the  good  of  them.  We  are  waiting  for 
something  additional.  There  are  one  or  two  points 
on  which  we  are  not  quite  clear,  so  that  we  hesitate 
to  declare  our  belief  and  to  act  upon  it  openly.  If  we 
would  take  the  truth  that  we  have  and  put  it  in  use 


20  JVOPV. 

now,  declare  it,  teach  it,  let  it  prove  its  vitality,  we 
should  come  by  degrees  into  the  possession  of  larger 
truth,  and  our  questionings  would  either  bring  us  into 
knowledge  or  cease  to  afflict  us.  We  should  add 
more  to  our  character  and  usefulness  if  we  would 
let  the  mind  rest  in  what  we  know  while  we  go  on 
and  live.  If  we  have  gone  two-thirds  the  way  up  the 
mountain,  we  are  by  so  much  nearer  the  summit  than 
we  were  before  we  started. 

The  same  principle  applies  to  our  character.  We 
have  the  feeling  that  we  are  Christian  men,  —  at 
least,  we  think  so.  Our  friends  believe  it.  It  will 
be  said  of  us  when  we  have  gone.  We  look  back 
upon  certain  experiences  of  our  life  when  we  thought 
we  began  to  be  Christians,  and  we  recall  the  pleasure 
that  we  had  in  new  motives  and  desires.  We  pro- 
pose when  we  get  more  assurance  to  declare  ourselves 
Christians,  to  make  all  doubt  vanish,  to  enter  into 
the  fellowship  of  the  church,  to  engage  in  Christian 
service.  This  delay  is  all  irrational.  We  ought  to 
begin  now.  The  way  to  get  more  feeling  is  instantly 
to  use  the  feeling  we  have.  The  way  to  secure  more 
confidence  is  to  make  confession  of  the  faith  which 
has  already  been  given  to  us,  and  to  join  to  it  the  works 
which  shall  at  once  prove  it  and  enlarge  it.  It  is  sad 
to  see  how  much  time  people  lose  in  entering  the 
Christian  life.  They  approach  it ;  they  recede  from 
it ;   again  and  again   advancing,  retreating,  perhaps 


NOW.  21 

after  all  never  attaining,  when  they  might  on  any 
day  rest  in  confidence  if  they  would  put  to  use  what 
they  have  then  ;  and  this,  when  time  is  passing  so 
rapidly,  and  the  Christian  life  so  much  needs  this 
world,  and  this  world  so  much  needs  the  Christian 
life.  It  is  very  fine  to  see  John  and  James  at  their 
boat.  When  the  Master  calls  **  Follow  me,"  they 
leave  their  nets,  leave  their  boat,  and  follow  him, 
and  to  the  duty  of  discipleship  add  the  special  grace 
of  now.  So  Matthew  sat  at  the  receipt  of  custom, 
and  when  Jesus  said  *' Follow  me,"  he  left  all,  rose 
up,  and  followed  him.  It  was  fine.  Saul  of  Tarsus 
was  rushing  with  mad  haste  into  Damascus,  when 
suddenly  he  was  stopped.  "Saul,  Saul."  "Lord, 
what  wilt  thou  have  me  to  do  .!* "  In  that  moment 
he  became  a  ruler,  and  the  world  has  felt  his  sway 
ever  since.  It  was  the  7tow  that  gave  honour,  dig- 
nity, grace. 

In  our  belief  and  our  life  we  may  frequently  go 
over  the  way  by  which  we  have  come,  over  the 
truths  that  we  hold,  over  the  work  that  we  are 
doing.  This  sometimes  has  its  advantage.  But 
until  the  days  get  longer  and  more  numerous,  we 
cannot  give  much  time  to  retracing  our  steps. 
Self-examination,  which  used  to  be  insisted  upon, 
is  less  commended  now.  The  change  is  a  wise  one. 
It  is  necessary  to  know  ourselves,  but  the  study 
must   be   done   rarely   and    rapidly.      Reviews   are 


22  NOW. 

supposed  to  be  useful,  but  what  should  we  think 
of  a  school  where  the  teaching  was  done  in  two  days 
of  the  week  and  the  rest  of  the  time  was  spent  in 
reviewing  it.  If  we  have  learned  a  thing,  let  it  stay 
learned.  In  the  parable,  the  man  who  sowed  the 
seed  which  sprang  up,  he  knew  not  how,  does  not 
appear  to  have  looked  to  see  how  it  had  sprung  up, 
or  to  question  the  fact.  With  nature  working  for 
him  day  and  night,  he  could  not  keep  up  and  do 
his  part  unless  he  gave  all  his  attention  to  the  har- 
vest. This  forward  pressing  is  the  pleasanter.  We 
do  not  advance  rapidly  by  the  circular  movement. 
We  can  use  up  time  as  certainly  by  going  round  and 
round,  but  there  is  not  so  much  pleasure  in  it,  and 
there  is  less  result.  This  prompt-spirited  action  will 
quicken  others,  incite  them  to  earnest  and  rapid 
effort.  By  it  we  enlarge  our  good  work  and  save 
time.  Everything  which  appeals  to  us  seems  to 
call  upon  us,  "  Be  quick  !  "  '^  Say  not  ye,  there  are 
yet  four  months  and  then  cometh  the  harvest  t  Be- 
hold I  say  unto  you,  Lift  up  your  eyes  and  look  on 
the  fields  ;  that  they  are  white  already  unto  harvest." 
There  is  one  danger  at  the  opening  of  the  year. 
We  are  likely  to  form  good  resolutions.  We  are 
fond  of  them.  They  are  flattering  and  inexpensive, 
easily  made,  and  easily  disappointing.  Sometimes 
advantage  results  from  them ;  but  commonly  the 
advantage   could  have  dispensed  with   them.     Few 


NOW.  23. 

cheap  things  wear  well.  Resolutions  do  not  take 
strong  hold  upon  conscience.  They  are  too  much 
the  outgrowth  of  times  and  events,  and  disappear 
with  the  occasion  which  produced  them,  or  soon 
after.  We  all  of  us  have  many  lying  along  the 
path  where  we  have  been  walking,  and  for  them  we 
have  no  use.  Good  resolves  and  good  habits  be- 
long together.  They  are  excellent  if  we  are  able 
to  use  them,  but  good  habits  put  us  inside  the 
house  and  good  resolutions  shut  the  door. 

Of  course,  in  themselves,  good  habits  are  better 
than  bad  habits.  In  permanent  action  it  may  not 
prove  so.  Good  habits  are  likely  to  make  us 
mechanical,  and  content  with  doing  what  can  be 
done  easily  because  we  are  used  to  doing  it.  This 
hinders  advance  and  holds  us  to  the  past.  There  is 
always  danger  when  to-day  is  a  repetition  of  yester- 
day. Life  may  come  to  be  a  long  yesterday.  This 
may  save  us  from  buying  a  new  almanac,  but  the 
economy  is  not  profitable.  Good  habits  are  likely 
to  create  satisfaction,  and  satisfaction  with  ourselves 
is  perilous.  We  need  to  be  alert,  with  our  minds 
quick,  and  our  eyes  looking  before  us.  A  bad  habit 
is  less  desirable ;  but  for  that  reason  it  may  turn  out 
to  be  of  more  use.  If  it  makes  us  discontented,  as 
it  is  likely  to  do  in  our  sober  moments,  it  may  drive 
us  on  to  better  conduct.  It  holds  the  possibiHty  of 
changing  for  the  better.     We  are  to  bring  to  each 


24  NOW. 

morning  the  wisdom  of  other  days  ;  but  this  is  not 
to  be  kept  under  lock  and  key,  but  to  be  at  hand, 
where  it  can  both  hve  and  grow.  Each  day  is  a 
new  day  and  needs  a  new  man.  Lose  nothing 
good  which  you  have  gained,  but  let  it  increase. 
Do  not  forget  that  there  is  something  to  be  done ; 
in  the  complacency  of  a  past  intention  to  do  some- 
thing, live  —  move.  In  the  light  of  this  day  live 
this  day.  An  old  purpose,  a  venerable  custom,  may 
have  virtue.  Better  a  strong,  fresh  will,  vigorous, 
enterprising,  under  the  guidance  of  reason  and  con- 
science, with  the  inspiration  of  immediate  necessity 
and  opportunity. 

The  ready  way  to  find  out  if  there  is  virtue  in 
our  good  resolution  is  to  begin  to  transform  it  into 
action. 

See  if  you  are  willing  to  pay  the  price  which  this 
demands,  and  to  bear  the  effort.  If  your  good  reso- 
lution or  good  habit,  consciously  or  unconsciously, 
hinders  you  from  doing  that  which  you  now  desire  to 
do,  as  may  not  unlikely  be  the  case,  then  it  is  worse 
than  useless.  Indeed,  the  rule,  if  we  are  to  have 
any,  may  well  be  this  :  Do  what  ought  to  be  done ; 
give  what  ought  to  be  given ;  say  what  ought  to  be 
said ;  be  what  you  ought  to  be,  and  do  it  nozv.  I  do 
not  attempt  to  give  regulations  for  ordering  life.  A 
man  must  judge  for  himself  what  he  ought  to  do,  and 
find  by  experience  the  best  way  to  do  it.     Yet   I 


NOW.  25 

venture  to    present   a   few   maxims   which   I    have 
learned  to  be  true : 

Finish  your  work  with  the  impulse  you  start  with. 

Do  your  work  so  well  you  will  not  need  to  do  it 
over. 

Do  your  reasoning  so  well  it  will  not  need  revision. 

In  doubtful  cases  do  the  generous  thing. 

Let  your  mistakes  be  on  the  liberal  side. 

Do  your  best  and  trust  in  God. 

"  Whatsoever  your  hand  findeth  to  do,  do  it  with 
your  might,"  and  do  it  now. 

Let  us  think  for  a  moment  upon  the  more  dis- 
tinctly religious  aspects  of  this  principle.  This  is 
indeed  the  rule  of  the  Christian  life.  Our  Lord, 
when  he  was  here,  was  presenting  his  benefits  to 
men,  and  asking  them  to  receive  them  at  once.  He 
gave  now.  He  had  come  to  give  immediately,  and 
men  could  not  too  soon  take  what  he  offered  them. 
He  gave  them  his  blessing.  It  was  a  present 
beatitude.  He  gave  them  duty,  which  was  imme- 
diate honour.  He  gave  them  life,  which  was  to  be 
for  ever,  but  was  to  have  its  beginning  on  the  day  he 
offered  it.  Why  should  he  not  give  at  once  1  Can 
we  imagine  him  delaying  to  bestow  his  favour  when 
it  was  in  his  hand  }  Can  we  think  of  his  bidding  a 
man  come  at  some  other  time,  when  he  was  ready 
at  once  in  his  ability  to  bless .?  A  man  came  to 
him,  and  asked  him  to  come  down  and  heal  his  son. 


26  JVOW. 

Jesus  said,  "  Go  thy  way  ;  thy  son  liveth."  He  healed 
him  instantly,  without  even  the  delay  of  a  journey. 
He  met  a  man  going  to  his  burial,  stopped  the  pro- 
cession by  the  side  of  the  road,  took  the  young  man 
by  the  hand,  and  lifted  him  up  to  life.  If  ever  for  a 
little  he  detained  his  miracle,  it  was  that  he  might 
enlarge  it  when  there  was  more  that  he  could  do. 
What  is  becoming  on  our  part  but  the  same  prompt- 
ness .?  He  calls  us  to  himself.  When  shall  we 
come  .'*  We  mean  at  some  time  to  enter  upon 
discipleship,  but  life  is  too  short  for  delay.  The 
only  time  to  come  to  him  is  when  he  comes  to  us, 
and  that  is  now.  That  which  he  asks  of  us  cannot 
be  rendered  too  soon.  He  asks  our  repentance,  which 
should  be  instant,  and  our  faith  wherein  the  heart 
should  at  once  go  out  to  him  ;  and  our  obedience, 
which  should  begin  where  we  stand  ;  and  our  service, 
which  should  instantly  draw  out  sympathy  and  help. 
If  we  are  already  Christ's  disciples,  we  think  upotl 
a  more  earnest  life,  of  more  prayer,  more  study,  more 
ministry  to  others.  When  shall  this  begin  ?  There 
is  but  one  time.  If  we  mean  to  pray  more,  this  is 
the  hour  to  prove  it.  If  we  mean  to  be  more  active 
in  Christian  service,  this  is  the  day  to  do  it.  If  we 
mean  to  fill  up  the  full  measure  of  a  life  of  Christian 
honour  and  usefulness,  behold  now  is  the  acceptable 
time.  This  grand  decision  to  be  Christ's  disciples, 
to    be  wholly,  actively,  usefully  his  disciples,  raises 


NOW.  27 

the  whole  life,  lifts  all  our  lesser  thoughts,  invigorates 
the  will,  bears  us  upward  and  onward.  In  the 
strength  of  life  we  keep  pace  with  our  years,  and 
we  make  the  most  of  time,  when  we  rule  the  year 
with  flow. 


THE  END. 


Date  Due 

, 

' 

f> 

Princeton  Theological  Semmary-Speei   Lil 


1    1012  01024  6991 


